Viva PHX’s third edition once again ignited downtown Phoenix last weekend, proving for just one night that under the right circumstances Phoenicians will brave the great outdoors on their quest for excellent music. The festival operates by setting out a beacon for bands touring on their way to South By…
Roaring out of Orange County in the late 2000s, Ty Segall is as known for his prolific output as he is his considerable onstage volume. Since 2008, Segall has released some nine studio albums, dozens of singles, a handful of EPs, and teamed up with like-minded bashers for collaborative albums…
The new year means new beginnings, fresh ideas, and more chances to give birth to new projects. In such a populous area, we are privy to a tremendous amount of ambition and diversity when it comes to the local music scene. The area’s creative class constantly churns out new music…
Cris Kirkwood of the Meat Puppets begins talking almost immediately, standing in his driveway, dressed casually in sweats, his hair and beard gray save for a few stray dark strands radiating in all directions from his head. A fuzzy halo. His neighbor, he says, was the victim of a recent…
Looking for something to do this weekend? Look no further. Here are the best concerts happening this weekend. Check out our comprehensive concert calendar for more options. Kottonmouth Kings – Friday, December 18 – Joe’s Grotto Twenty-one years after Kottonmouth Kings’ humble beginnings in the Orange County town of Placentia, it’s…
In 1968, the Byrds released Sweetheart of the Rodeo, an LP built on the band’s new commitment to traditional American country music. The record was spearheaded by a new Byrd, Gram Parsons, a trust fund dropout who’d fallen for Merle Haggard while studying theology at Harvard, and its devotion to…
In 1956, a twangy rockabilly song called “The Fool” announced to the country that Phoenix, Arizona, was good for more than temperate winters and citrus groves. Sung by Sanford Clark, a baby-faced kid stationed at Luke Air Force Base, the song was written and produced by local DJ Lee Hazlewood…
What is the Phoenix sound? In this week’s issue of Phoenix New Times, we explore the subject with longtime radio deejay Jim West, author of a new book, The Phoenix Sound: A History of Twang & Rockabilly Music in Arizona. A familiar voice to listeners of powerhouse country station KNIX…
“Did you park on the street?” Destruction Unit guitarist Jes “J.S.” Aurelius has a frantic look as he makes his way through the small clusters of punks gathered at Apartment 512 Gallery. High walls block the venue from Van Buren Street, keeping in most of the throbbing sounds emanating from…
It’s just about dark. The sun is fading behind the thick brush along the Arizona Canal west of 40th Street in the East Phoenix neighborhood of Arcadia. Shouts from soccer players at a nearby park carry, but as the sun sinks deeper, they’re drowned out by the buzz of cicadas…
Most studio musicians pine for the kind of streak that bassist Stephen Bruner is on. In 2014, Bruner — best known by his alias “Thundercat” — contributed to Flying Lotus’ avant-garde electronic album You’re Dead!; in 2015, he’s an essential player on two of the most lauded albums of the year:…
Here’s the thing: With its swaggering rock riffs and loose, danceable sway, Nikki Lane’s “Right Time,” which opens the South Carolinian’s second full-length album, All or Nothin’, should be a country radio smash. Why not? If Sam Hunt can channel sensitive R&B star Drake, Kacey Musgraves’ mellow contrarian approach has…
Robin Wilson of the Gin Blossoms takes a look around the live room at Uranus Recording and sighs. There are a few guitars still hanging on the walls, some scattered furniture, gold and platinum records in a corner, and framed pictures of Lynda Carter and Julie Newmar, Wilson’s favorite Catwoman…
Songwriter Dan Stuart has been at it for more than three decades, but his upcoming album, Marlowe’s Revenge, shows he’s still in full possession of his verve, ranking among his finest albums with Green on Red, the band he founded in the early ’80s, which brilliantly straddled the lines between desert rock,…
In June of this year, Robin Wilson of the Gin Blossoms quietly decided it was time to close the doors of Uranus Recording of Tempe, the small studio he’s operated for more than 20 years. In late 1994, the Gin Blossoms moved into the quiet, historical spot along Eighth Street…
It’s a warm Wednesday night in Phoenix at Carly’s, and songwriter Lonna Kelley’s thoughts flow out in a steady stream, punctuated by sips from her Lumberyard IPA. She’s speaking about how life influenced her new EP of swooning noise pop, Take Me Home Spiderman: her desire to live honestly, being…
Toby Keith has employed a few personas over the course of his two-decade career. The Oklahoma-born singer started off as a tuneful neo-traditionalist before hitting it big as a political firebrand in the wake of 9/11, and paved the way for today’s “bro country” super stars with a series of…
Sometimes a music documentary reaches a state of transcendence. John Pirozzi’s new film Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll is that kind of movie. Examining the thriving pop scene of Cambodia’s capitol city Phnom Penh in the ‘50s, ’60s, and ’70s, when crooners, rock bands, songstresses, surf combos,…
Bursting out of a musically diverse scene in Miami in the early ’90s, The Mavericks found crossover success with a roadworthy blend of Latin rhythms, classic country, and a liberal dose of rockabilly attitude. Led by songwriter and vocalist Raul Malo, the band’s currently enjoying a creative renaissance. The band’s…
Brian Whelan isn’t a snob when it comes to a good song. “I have never gave a shit if it’s a pop thing or a lo-fi indie thing, I don’t care,” Whelan says over the phone from the South By Southwest festival in Austin, speaking over the blunt din of…
Even at its most depraved, the comedy of Kyle Kinane exudes a sort of busted up Zen quality. The Midwesterner is uproarious and crass, but also curiously positive. “Yeah, well sometimes it seems like a comedians make a conscious choice make to fun everything and act superior to [their] surroundings…
With seemingly every alternative rock band of note reunited to dolefully tour the classics, Los Angeles band Fishbone remains a vital exception to the “play the hits” rule. For 33 years, the group has experimented and evolved, incorporating influences including ska, punk, hardcore, psychedelic rock, soul, funk, reggae, and jazz…
